A military judge is expected to render a decision today in the case of a Halifax sailor accused of sexually assaulting a subordinate. Accused Master Seaman Daniel Cooper, right, arrives for his standing court martial case in Halifax on Tuesday Sept. 26, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ted Pritchard

Canadian sailor found guilty of sexual assault

Master Seaman Daniel Cooper had pleaded not guilty to the charges aboard the HMCS Athabaskan

Cooper took the stand in his own defence at his court martial last week and testified that the sexual activity was consensual, but the victim, whose name is protected by a publication ban, testified he awoke to the naval communicator at Canadian Forces Base Halifax performing oral sex on him.

Both sides agreed that Cooper’s version of what took place in the sailors’ sleeping quarters on the night in question cannot be reconciled with the victim’s testimony, but they clashed over which account was more credible.

During closing arguments Saturday, Prosecutor Maj. Dominic Martin said Cooper and the junior sailor’s accounts of the night of drinking before the alleged incident were “pretty compatible” up until when the sailors returned to their sleeping quarters on the navy destroyer, which was docked in Spain as part of a NATO exercise.

Under cross-examination Cooper maintained that he twice asked the junior sailor if he wanted to engage in sexual activity and the other man agreed.

He had previously testified that after a night of drinking, he and the junior sailor went back to their sleeping quarters, and as they were talking by the other man’s locker, he noticed that he had become aroused.

Cooper said he asked the junior sailor if he wanted to become intimate and the other man agreed. He said he asked the other man again at his bunk before engaging in sexual activity.

During closing arguments, Martin asserted that Cooper fabricated the conversation near the locker in an effort to “absolve” himself of guilt.

Defence counsel Maj. Phillipe Boutin argued it was the victim’s account that lacked credibility past “the point of no return.”

Boutin said the victim testified that he could not remember many details during the period of time in question, especially those that may put him in a “bad light.”

In previous testimony before the military court the victim said he feared for his safety and attempted to alert a crew member in the bunk below him — but he said his pleas for help went unanswered.

The sailor from the lower bunk testified Friday that he remembered the victim attempting to wake him up on the morning in question.

The bunkmate said the two men then reported the incident to a superior.

The military has promised to crack down on sexual misconduct in the ranks since an April 2015 report by retired Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps found an “underlying sexual culture.”

Military police received 193 reports of sexual assault in 2017, more than twice the 93 reported in 2014. There have also been more charges, with 44 in 2016 compared to 24 in 2014.